


I Don't Dance

by localspacelesbian



Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: A little bit of angst, M/M, Mild Language, Mostly Fluff, bi chad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22459777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localspacelesbian/pseuds/localspacelesbian
Summary: After a very interesting baseball game, Chad learns something new about himself.I'll show you that it's one and the sameBaseball, dancing, same gameIt's easy
Relationships: Chad Danforth/Ryan Evans
Comments: 38
Kudos: 707





	I Don't Dance

**Author's Note:**

> I made a [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1YKC4TtLUp9M7hYxVuxWZe?si=nELjiFfKQcGjsKjpqThLTA) to go along with this fic

“Hey, Evans!” Ryan turned around at the sound of Chad’s voice. “Where ya going?”

Ryan gave him a confused look and gestured behind him. “To shower?”

Chad tilted his head to the side. “The locker rooms are that way.” He pointed his thumb in the direction all the other baseball players had gone.

“Yeah, the _staff_ locker rooms.” He raised his eyebrow. “Did you forget my parents own this place?” He smirked and then turned to keep walking the way he had been.

Chad rolled his eyes and started walking along side him. Figures Evans would be too good to shower with everyone else. “So, and I’m still not saying I’m gonna dance, but, if I do, how do we know we can trust you? You know, that you aren’t still spying for your sister?”

“You saw how fast Shar dropped me as soon as she managed to convince Troy to do the show with her. If she doesn’t care about me, why should I care about her?”

Chad just shrugged. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to understand the Evans twins’ relationship. For some reason though, he felt like he could trust Ryan. At least right now. The two of them kept walking in a comfortable silence. They went inside and down a hallway where they came across a door with a gold star on it that said ‘Ryan Evans’ on it.

Ryan unlocked the door and pushed it open before looking back at Chad with his eyebrow raised. “You comin’ in?”

Chad suddenly realized what was happening. “Um.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and went in. Chad followed. It was a huge dressing room. There was a soft-looking couch, a vanity covered in makeup and hair products (most of which Chad wouldn’t be able to name if he tried), a huge mirror above it, and a wardrobe next to it. “The bathroom’s over there.” He pointed to a door on the other side of the room. “You can go first.”

Chad nodded and walked into the nicest bathroom he had ever seen in his life. The shower was huge. It took him a few seconds to figure it out. He showered quickly, and when he was done, he found a towel, which was maybe the softest thing he’d ever felt, and dried off. He wrapped the towel around his waist, grabbed his clothes, and left the room. You know, to save time, not because he was lazy and the towel was so ridiculously soft.

When he walked into the main room, Ryan stood up from the couch, wearing a robe, and the look Ryan gave him definitely didn’t make Chad blush and look down self-consciously. Nope. Ryan didn’t say anything as he walked past Chad into the bathroom.

Chad started getting dressed when he saw Ryan’s clothes sitting on the floor, and he had an idea. And maybe it was a dumb idea, but hey, no one ever said he was smart.

He was fixing his hair in the mirror when he heard the bathroom door open and looked over. He held out his arms, feigning confidence as he spun in a circle. “How do I look?”

Ryan smirked and tilted his head to the side. As he walked closer, Chad was all too aware of his eyes on him and had to remind himself that he had literally asked for this. “Well, you don’t quite pull off the look as well as I do.” Chad tried to hit him, but Ryan easily dodged him. “Besides, you’re missing something.” At Chad’s confused look, Ryan looked around, found his hat, and put it on Chad’s head before smiling at him. “There, now you look almost as good as me.” Chad just rolled his eyes. Ryan looked over at Chad’s clothes that were lying on the floor by the couch. “So, does this mean I get to wear your clothes?”

Chad shrugged. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead. “If you want.”

Ryan smirked, and bent down to pick them up. He looked up at Chad, like he was waiting for something. Chad blushed and turned around. He saw his hat on the ground and bent down to pick it up. When Ryan told him he was done, he turned around. He walked up to Ryan and put the hat on him, tilting it to the side the way he knew Ryan always wore his hats.

Ryan smiled and gestured to the door. “Shall we?” Chad nodded and followed him outside, to where everyone had already started eating at the tables next to the baseball diamond. Ryan sat down at a table while Chad got them both food before sitting next to him. Taylor made some off-hand comment about Chad’s hat and kept shooting the two of them weird looks, but Chad didn’t really think anything of it, as he was quickly distracted by asking Ryan when he got so good at baseball. And if they were sitting closer than they probably needed to while they were talking and joking with their friends (and stealing each other’s food), well, no one said anything.

After a while, Gabriella invited all the Wildcats over to her house for a little afterparty, and he, Ryan, and Gabriella all got in Taylor’s car, so she could drive them, while the others got into their own cars to follow them. When they walked into the house, all laughing at some joke Ryan had told, Gabriella’s mom happily welcomed them, introducing herself to Ryan, who was the only one she hadn’t met. And of course he was the perfect gentleman, charming her easily with a smile and a comment about her lovely home. She said that she was about to start making brownies, and Zeke immediately jumped up and offered to help her. The rest of them all sat in the living room and continued talking. Chad noticed Taylor give him a weird look when he sat down next to Ryan, but he didn’t know what it meant, so he ignored it. He was glad that Ryan seemed to be fitting in well with the rest of the Wildcats, and he had to admit that he looked good in Wildcat Red.

When Ms. Montez and Zeke brought the brownies out, no one even bothered to wait for them to cool before they devoured them. Ryan said they were the best brownies he had ever had, and Chad had to agree. After a while, Ms. Montez (as politely as possible) kicked them all out. Chad hadn’t even realized how much time had passed or how late it was getting.

Taylor gave him and Ryan a ride home. She dropped off Ryan first, and Chad really shouldn’t still be so surprised by how rich the Evans family was, but damn their house was huge. Ryan gave them both a friendly wave before walking up to the house, and Chad and Taylor both waved back.

As soon as he was gone, Taylor’s smile dropped, and the car suddenly felt very tense. Chad was confused. She just started driving, not saying anything. Chad had no idea what was happening, but he felt like maybe she was mad at him? He thought over everything he had done that day to try to figure out why, but he couldn’t think of anything.

Eventually, he figured he should just ask her. He looked over at her nervously. “Are you mad at me?”

She rolled her eyes. “Figured it out, did you?”

He gave her a confused look. “Did I do something?”

She shot him an incredulous look before quickly looking back at the road. “You and Ryan disappeared and came back wearing each other’s clothes. What am I supposed to think happened?”

It took Chad a second to realize what she was implying. “Wait. You think…” He shook his head. “What? No. I’m not- I don’t-” He shook his head again, starting to get defensive. “I just thought it would be funny to switch clothes. Nothing _happened_. Why would you even think that?”

She sighed. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe it was the way he was all over you all night? He was practically sitting in your lap, Chad!”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “He’s a touchy person. He was like that with Gabriella, too.”

She shook her head. “No, he wasn’t. Not like he was with you. And he’s-” She shook her head. “And it’s not just him. It’s you.” The car slowed to a stop in front of Chad’s house. She put the car in park and turned to him with a serious look. “Look, we both know Troy doesn’t have any reason to be jealous of Ryan. But do I?”

He reached over and held her hands. “Of course not. I like you. I like dating you. Look, Ryan’s my friend. And I’m shocked to be even calling him _that_ right now, but that’s _all_ he is. I promise. I’m not-” He sighed. “I like you. A lot. Ok?” He smiled at her, and she smiled back, though there was still something a bit uncertain un her eyes.

She nodded. “Ok.”

Chad exhaled in relief. “Ok. I’ll see you tomorrow?” She nodded. He leaned over and kissed her. “Good night.”

“Good night, Wildcat.” She smiled at him as he got out of the car. He gave her a smile before closing the door and walking into his house.

That night, Chad had trouble sleeping. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Taylor had said. Did Ryan like him? He knew Ryan was gay, but it had always seemed kind of abstract. He had never really thought much about it before now. At least not about Ryan actually _liking_ a guy, let alone _him_ . Why didn’t that thought bother him as much as he felt like it should? Did he like Ryan? No, that was ridiculous. He wasn’t gay. He didn’t like guys. He liked girls. He had always liked girls. He like Taylor. Right? At least he had, but did he still? Things had been a bit… weird between them lately. Like maybe his feelings for her were starting to fade? Could that happen? It’s not like he had any reason _not_ to like her, but lately he just didn’t like being with her as much as he had when they’d first started dating. He’d thought that had just been because the ‘honeymoon phase’ was over, but maybe it was more than that? Maybe he just didn’t like her anymore. At least, not like that. But he had once, and it’s not like she had been the first girl he’d ever liked or dated. So he knew that he liked girls.

‘ _But that doesn’t mean you can’t also like guys,_ ’ a voice in the back of his head reminded him. He knew that. Theoretically. He knew that bi people exist. Troy was bi. He had come out to him a couple months ago, and Chad had tried his best to be supportive, but he hadn’t thought about it too much since then. Could he be bi, too? Had he ever liked a guy before? He would know if he had, right? He tried to think back. He remembered back in middle school when Troy had gotten his first girlfriend, and he hadn’t exactly reacted the best. That had been the first time he’d felt like he was losing his best friend. Shit, had he been jealous? Had he liked Troy? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He didn’t still though, right? No, Troy was like a brother to him now. The idea of having a crush on him now was weird. But as he thought back more, he realized that Troy hadn’t been his only crush on a guy, or even his first. Shit, that probably meant that he wasn’t straight, didn’t it?

So, what about Ryan? Did he like him? Sure, he could acknowledge that Ryan certainly wasn’t unattractive. And he liked being around him. But he had really only started talking to him that day. But it had been a pretty good day. Ryan had not only managed to distract him from the whole Troy Drama, but he had convinced him to dance. Because, even though he hadn’t officially said he would yet, he knew, and he knew that everyone else knew, that he was going to dance with them in the talent show. And he hated that he was actually kind of excited for it.

Chad looked over at the clock on his dresser. 3:14am. _Shit_. Tomorrow was gonna be hard. For more than one reason. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but his first thought when he woke up was of Ryan. His second thought was that he was definitely going to have to break up with Taylor.

Chad walked into the kitchen at the resort and grabbed a plate for breakfast. As Zeke handed him a croissant, he gave him a concerned look and asked, “Are you ok, dude?”

Chad nodded and shoved the croissant in his mouth. “Just tired,” he mumbled around the food. He saw Taylor walk in, and he swallowed his food and ran up to her. “Hey, do you have a minute?”

She gave him that look she gave him sometimes, the one that made him feel like she was reading his mind. “Is this about-” She was interrupted by Mr. Fulton coming in to give everyone their assignments for the day. After he left, she gave him a sad smile. “Later?” He nodded and she turned to get to work, so he did the same.

As predicted, the day felt incredibly long. He was exhausted, making the work even worse than usual. And he hated that he was disappointed that he didn’t see Ryan all morning.

He and Taylor were finally both free at the same time in the afternoon, right before they were supposed to meet everyone for their first rehearsal for the talent show. They went outside to the empty basketball court. She gestured for him to start.

He took a deep breath. “You were right.”

“About what?”

“I… I think I might…” He sighed. “Do I have to say it?” She crossed her arms. He took another deep breath and started over. “I like you. But not the same way I used to.” She looked down. God, how was he supposed to do this? He sat down on the ground and leaned against the wall. “I’m bi. And I think I might like Ryan. I’m sorry.”

She sat down next to him and put her hand on his knee. “You don’t have to apologize for how you feel.”

He looked up at her. “But aren’t you mad?”

She shook her head. “I’m not mad. I’m upset, but I’m not mad. I like you, but I can’t make you like me back. And I’m glad that you’re being honest with me.”

God, he loved her. He smiled at her. “Thanks for being so cool about this.”

She smiled at him. “Just do me a favor, and when I’m around, keep the flirting to a minimum.”

He huffed out a short laugh and looked away. “I’ll try my best.” After a second, he looked back at her. “We can still be friends, right?”

She gave him a sad smile. “I hope so. It might take a while though.”

“How long?”

She shrugged. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

They both looked up when they heard the door open. It was Ryan. Because of course it was. He looked a bit awkward. “Um, we were about to start rehearsal.” He gestured behind him with his thumb. “But I can come back if you two are busy.”

Taylor shook her head and squeezed Chad’s knee once more before standing up. “No, it’s fine. We’re done here.” She smiled at Ryan before walking inside.

Ryan walked up to Chad. “Everything all right?”

Chad nodded. “Just peachy.”

“You _are_ doing the show, right?”

“You aren’t gonna make me regret it, are you?”

Ryan smirked. “Don’t worry. I won’t make you do anything you can’t handle.”

Chad smiled and held out his hand. Ryan took it and helped him up. “I’d say I can handle anything, but I think you might actually take that as a challenge.”

Ryan just laughed and held the door open for him. Chad put his arm around him as the two of them walked inside and into the rehearsal. He dropped his arm and his smile when he saw Taylor. He noticed Gabriella give the two of them a questioning look, but she didn’t say anything, and neither did anyone else.

Ryan walked over to where Kesli was sitting at the piano. “So, do we have a song?”

She nodded and started passing out sheet music to everyone.

It was a couple days later and Chad had just gotten to work when Fulton came in and tossed a caddy uniform at him. “Get dressed, Danforth. You’re caddying today. You’ve been requested.”

Chad gave him a confused look, but went and changed without question. He walked outside and saw Ryan leaning against a golf cart waiting for him.

Chad laughed in disbelief. “You’re the one who requested me?” Ryan just shrugged. “Please tell me your sister isn’t coming, too.”

Ryan chuckled. “Don’t worry, Danforth. It’s just me this time.” He hopped in the cart, and Chad followed suit, sitting next to him. Ryan started driving. Chad looked around and noticed that they weren’t heading in the direction of the first hole. He looked in the back and didn’t see any golf clubs.

“Where are we going?”

Ryan just smirked at him. “What? Don’t you trust me?”

Chad scoffed. “I mean, you are an Evans.”

Ryan put his hand on his chest. “You wound me. Really.”

Chad just rolled his eyes and decided to just let Ryan take him wherever he was going. After all, he was getting paid to be driven around by his cru- friend. His friend.

Eventually they stopped by a tree near the pond. There wasn’t anyone else around as far as he could see. He looked out across the pond. “Nice view.”

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed, but when Chad looked back, he could’ve sworn that Ryan wasn’t looking at the pond, but Ryan quickly turned back the cart before Chad could be sure. Ryan pulled a blanket from somewhere and laid it out on the grass. Then he turned back to the cart again. “So, I heard you about you and Taylor, and I’m not sure what happened or which stage of post-breakup you’re at,” he turned back to Chad, holding a pint of chocolate ice cream in one hand and two spoons in the other, “but I figured everyone likes ice cream.”

Chad took the ice cream from him. “Have a lot of experience with breakups?”

Ryan shrugged as the two of them sat down on the blanket. Chad took the lid off the ice cream and set it to the side. “Well, if you were to ask Shar, she’d say that the Evans twins don’t get dumped. But just between us, well, we’ve been through our fair share of ice cream.” He held out one of the spoons, and Chad took it.

The two of them sat and ate their ice cream in silence for a while, before Ryan nudged him with his shoulder. “So?”

“So what?”

“What happened with you and Taylor?”

Chad shrugged. “It’s not that exciting of a story.” Ryan just gave him a Look. Chad rolled his eyes. “Seriously. Like, I guess we sort of had a fight the night before, but it’s not like either of us did anything wrong. Not really. I guess I just realized that I didn’t really like her anymore. Romantically anyway. We’re still friends.” He frowned. “I hope.”

Ryan nodded. “Well, as far as breakups go, it could certainly be worse.”

Chad nodded. “Yeah.” He took a bite of ice cream, and then pointed at Ryan with his spoon. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Do you have any good breakup stories?”

Ryan shrugged. “One or two.” Chad tried to imitate the look Ryan had given him earlier. Ryan sighed. “Ok, so there was this guy at this theatre camp Shar and I went to a couple years ago…”

It was probably a couple hours later, but it felt like no time had passed at all, before the two of them were lying on the ground laughing, the now empty ice cream container and spoons abandoned a few feet away. Chad just found it so easy to talk to Ryan. He didn’t know why. He hadn’t gotten this close to anyone this quickly since he’d met Troy in kindergarten. This was only like the third time the two of them had really hung out, but he already felt like they’d known each other for years.

Suddenly, Ryan stood up. “Do you want to see some of the choreography I’ve been working on for the show?”

Chad shrugged. “Go for it.” The next thing he knew, he was being pulled to his feet. He laughed. “Wait, I didn’t agree to this.”

Ryan just smiled at him. “Sure you did. Besides, it takes two people.” Chad let Ryan lead him in the choreography, surprised at how willing he was to dance when Ryan asked him to.

The Wildcats had rehearsal as often as they could, but it wasn’t often that they could get everyone together all at once. More often than not, they rehearsed in smaller groups, either working on the song with Kelsi or the choreography with Ryan. Chad’s favorite rehearsals, though, were the private dance lessons with just the two of them that Ryan had insisted he’d needed. Chad quickly discovered that dancing was just as much a sport as basketball or baseball, and suddenly how in shape Ryan was made a lot of sense. Not that he paid much attention to that kind of thing. The rehearsals were every bit as hard as basketball practice. (Or maybe even harder, but he’d die before he admitted that to anyone.) But it was all worth it. Because he got to spend time in close proximity to Ryan. And god if you had told him even a month ago that he would not only _tolerate_ but _look forward to_ private dance lessons with _Ryan Evans_ , he’d tell you you were crazy. But here he was. Dancing. And maybe it was because he had a crush on Ryan. Maybe it was because it was an escape from thinking about the fact that he and his best friend were hardly speaking. Maybe it was because he was technically getting paid for it because they had managed to sneak most of the rehearsals in while he was still on the clock. Maybe it was some combination of those things. Regardless, Chad was having a surprisingly good summer at Lava Springs.

At one such rehearsal, only about a week out from the show, when Chad really didn’t need the private lessons anymore, but had no interest in stopping any time soon, the two of them were taking a water break, sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. The rehearsal had gone really well, and not just the dancing, and Chad was feeling pretty confident. Not that he was ever not confident, of course.

“Can I tell you something?”

Ryan shrugged. “Of course.”

Chad took a deep breath, not looking at Ryan. Why was this suddenly so hard? “I’m bi.” Chad could feel Ryan looking at him, so he finally looked up to see surprise on his face. But he also seemed happy maybe? It was hard to tell.

“Ok.”

“Taylor’s the only other person who knows.”

Ryan nodded. “Well, I’m honored that you trust me enough to tell me.”

Chad shrugged. “Of course I trust you. Besides, I figured you’re gay, so you’d get it, right?”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah.”

Chad nodded and looked away again. “It’s kind of why Taylor and I broke up, actually.”

“Wait, did she have a problem with it or something?”

Chad shook his head. “No. I guess it wasn’t directly because of that. It was more like because of how I realized it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I realized that I like someone. Someone who’s not her.”

“A guy.”

Chad nodded, even though it wasn’t a question. “Yeah.”

Ryan nudged him with his shoulder. “Well, are you going to tell me who it is?”

Chad huffed out a short laugh. “Tell you what. I’ll give you three guesses.”

Ryan nodded, and looked away thoughtfully. “Is it Troy?”

Chad scoffed. “Hell no. That guy’s like a brother to me.” He shook his head. “Although, looking back on it, I think I might have had a crush on him back in the day.”

Ryan chuckled. “Honestly, who didn’t?” Chad couldn’t help but laugh slightly at that. “So if it’s not Troy… Is it… Zeke?”

Chad laughed in disbelief. “What? Why would it be Zeke?”

Ryan shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ve had his cookies, right?”

“Are you just listing guys you’ve had crushes on?”

Ryan smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Chad shook his head. “Come on. One more guess. If you’re wrong, you’ll never know who it is.” Honestly, Chad wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted Ryan to guess it. Ryan had certainly never been subtle with his flirting, but he had been getting bolder recently, especially when they were alone. Still, there was a something in the back of Chad’s mind that didn’t want to believe that Ryan could really like him back.

Ryan appeared to think for a few seconds before turning back to Chad. “Is it…” He gave Chad another smirk. Chad was suddenly hyper aware of how close they were. They’re entire sides were pressed up against each other. “Me?” Ryan slowly reached out and interlocked their fingers, apparently very sure in his guess.

Chad looked down at their hands and felt his heart race. He looked back up at Ryan and smiled. Instead of answering, he lifted his free hand up to Ryan’s cheek. The two of them leaned forward and finally closed the distance between them. Chad smiled into the kiss, almost unable to believe that this was happening. As they separated, they leaned their foreheads together and just smiled for a few seconds.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” Ryan said, quietly.

“Me too.”

“So, does that mean I was right?”

Chad just laughed and leaned forward to pull him into another kiss, this one more passionate than the first. Eventually, they had to come up for air, and because they weren’t exactly sitting in the most comfortable position for this particular activity.

Ryan stood up, still not letting go of Chad’s hand, and pulled Chad up with him. He led him out of the room, down the hall, and into his dressing room. Chad closed the door behind them, and was about to pull him into another kiss, but Ryan put out a hand to stop him.

“Wait. We should probably talk first. Like, what exactly is this? And are we going to tell people?”

Chad sighed. He hated that Ryan was right. Why couldn’t they just keep kissing and work out the details later? They walked over and sat down on the couch.

“So… first question: what are we?”

Chad nodded. “Ok. How does ‘boyfriends’ sound?” 

Ryan smiled. “It sounds good to me.” Chad let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding and smiled. “And the other question?”

Chad looked down. “Well, Taylor already knows. But I don’t know if I’m ready for anyone else to know. Not yet anyway.”

“Ok.” Ryan nodded and squeezed his hand. “We can tell people on your terms.”

Chad looked up. “Are you sure?”

Ryan smiled at him. “Of course.” Chad nodded. Then, he frowned and looked away. Ryan gave him a concerned look. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just. It feels weird. Not telling Troy, you know?” Ryan nodded. “I mean, up until like a month ago, we told each other literally everything. And now… honestly, I’m not sure if he even knows that I broke up with Taylor.”

Ryan gave him a sad smile and squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry.”

Chad shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m sure he’ll get his head out of his ass eventually. And I’ll forgive him. But right now, he’s just so… _frustrating_.”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah, that’s about how I feel about Sharpay right now.” Chad snorted. “And for what it’s worth, I know how easy it is to be manipulated by her, you know. My sister is very good at getting what she wants, and you shouldn’t hold that against Troy.”

Chad shook his head. “No. The talent show, the college stuff, that’s whatever. Sharpay didn’t _make_ him start treating the rest of us like dirt.”

Ryan shrugged. “People tend to act like the people they spend time with.”

“But they don’t have to.”

“No. They don’t.”

As Chad was walking back to the kitchen, he ran into Taylor, and she gave him a Look. He realized that he probably looked a bit disheveled, and he knew that she knew it wasn’t just from the dancing. “Shut up.”

She smiled. “I didn’t say anything.” They both laughed and then walked into the kitchen together.

But they quickly grew more serious as she gave her ‘announcement’ from Fulton. God, he could kill Sharpay. But it looked like Gabriella was about to beat him to it. So he grabbed one of the flyers, turned around, and walked back the way he came. He walked right into Ryan’s dressing room, where he was still looking in the mirror trying to fix his hair from earlier.

Ryan looked over at him in confusion, which quickly turned to concern. Chad just handed him the slightly crumpled up paper. It hit him as Ryan looked back up at him after reading the paper, that he had never seen Ryan angry before. He didn’t think he liked it. He wanted to punch something. Or someone. Preferably someone with blonde hair and designer flip flops.

“This isn’t fair.”

“I know.”

“You worked so hard.”

“So did all of you.”

Chad shook his head. “Yeah, but especially you. And I don’t think any of us care about this as much as you do. How can she do this to her own brother?”

“I don’t know. She’ll do anything to get what she wants.”

“Is there anything you can do?”

Ryan sighed. “Well, I could try going to my parents, but I doubt that would work. She’s probably expecting that.” He shook his head. “No, we gotta beat her at her own game somehow.”

“Do you have a plan?”

Ryan bit his lip. “I don’t know. There’s a reason Sharpay’s always been the one to plan everything. Out of the two of us, she got the brains.”

“Well, what’d you get?”

“The looks, obviously.”

And despite the situation, or maybe because of it, Chad couldn’t help but laugh at that. He shook his head. “Well, you’re not wrong there, but I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

“Yeah well, I’ll let you know if I do.”

Chad brought his hand up to Ryan’s cheek. “I’m sorry.”

Ryan leaned his forehead against Chad’s and closed his eyes. “Me too.”

In the end, Ryan did think of something. And, somehow, it worked. Not only did Troy finally pull his head out of his ass and apologize to everyone (and ok, that part _probably_ wasn’t Ryan’s doing), but Sharpay even gave Ryan the Star Dazzle Award. Chad almost couldn’t believe it. Almost. Because it was Ryan. And Chad had always believed in Ryan.

That night, Troy gave Chad a ride home. They didn’t talk much, but when he stopped in front of Chad’s house, Chad didn’t get out of the car right away.

Troy looked over at him in concern. “Hey, are you ok, man?”

Chad nodded. “Yeah, it’s just. You missed a lot this summer, Bolton.”

Troy gave him a confused look. “Like what?”

This shouldn’t be scary. This was Troy. His best friend. His brother. Who was also bi. Chad took a deep breath. “I’m bi.”

Troy looked at him in surprise. “Oh. Ok.”

Chad nodded. “There’s more.” Troy looked even more confused. “I have a boyfriend.”

“Wait what? What happened to Taylor?”

Chad could almost laugh, even though it wasn’t really funny. “Dude, we broke up like forever ago.” And ok, it had been maybe two months at most, but a lot had happened in that two months.

“When?”

“Right after the baseball game.”

Chad could practically see the gears turning in Troy’s head. It was almost painful to watch. “Wait, so who are you dating then?”

“Ryan.”

Chad could’ve sworn Troy’s head just about exploded. “Wait what? Since when?”

“About a week ago?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Did I miss anything else?”

Chad thought for a second. “I don’t think so.”

Troy nodded. “Cool.” They sat there in silence for a second before suddenly Troy let out a short disbelieving laugh. Chad looked over at him. “Wow, I’m an idiot.”

“Not that I’m disagreeing with you here, but why?”

He shook his head. “I can’t believe I was actually jealous of him hanging out with Gabriella.”

Chad laughed. “Yeah, Ryan told me about that. You do know he’s been openly gay since like eighth grade, right?”

Troy laughed again, shaking his head. “Yeah, I guess I just wasn’t thinking straight.”

Chad snorted. “Are you ever?”

Troy shoved him. “Shut up.”

Chad laughed. “You know you love me, Bolton.”

“Yeah, yeah, get out of my truck, Danforth.”

Chad opened the door and stepped out. “See you tomorrow?” Troy nodded, and Chad closed the door. They waved goodbye to each other one last time before Chad walked into his house and Troy drove away.

The next day was the end-of-summer staff pool party. Everyone was dancing and laughing and talking and having a good time. Chad pulled Ryan into the pool, and the two of them swam around for a while. They were just standing there in the middle of the pool looking at each other for maybe a second too long when Chad realized how badly he wanted to be able to kiss him in public. He looked over at Troy and Gabriella. It wasn’t fair that they could show as much affection to each other as they wanted to without caring what anyone else thought. Then, as he looked at Troy, he realized that he _didn’t_ care what anyone else thought. Now that Troy knew, it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and nobody else’s opinions of him really mattered. Certainly not anyone else in this pool right now, who were all either his friends who he knew would be cool with it or other staff members he’d probably never see again after that summer.

“Chad? You ok?”

Chad looked back at Ryan, suddenly more sure than he had ever been of anything. “You said we could tell people on my terms, right?”

Ryan nodded, looking confused. “Yeah. Why?”

Chad nodded. _Fuck it._ And he put his hands on either side of Ryan’s face and pulled him into a kiss. Right there in the middle of the pool. In front of everybody.

When Chad opened his eyes, suddenly Sharpay was standing right next to her brother. He definitely did _not_ jump. (Shut up, Troy.) Ryan moved out of her way as she stepped up to Chad. Despite how much shorter than him she was, she somehow managed to look intimidating standing there in the pool in her swimsuit. She took off her sunglasses and put her finger on his chest. “If you even think about hurting my brother,” She smiled and titled her head to the side, “well, I don’t think I need to tell you what I’m capable of.”

Chad nodded quickly. “Got it.”

“Good.” She put her sunglasses back on, turned around, and walked away.

Ryan glared after her as she walked away before turning back to Chad. “Sorry about her.”

Chad shook his head. “It’s fine.” He smiled and tilted his head to the side. “Now where were we?” Ryan smiled and pulled Chad back in for another kiss.


End file.
